We are a group of Enthusiasts from all over the world, mostly Germany, who create historical battles in scale 1:72.
As we do this since more than 10 years we thought it is time for our own blog.
Being a historical enthusiast I wanted to fulfill my dream of producing my own figures in this scale too. So I started working with several sculptors to produce exotic figures in 1:72 which I fear nobody else would bring on the market.

Where to buy our figures

Donnerstag, 24. März 2011

Last year I was on a business tour in the area of Augsburg when I nearly passed the exit for the village of Zusmarshausen. This reminded me that they have a new flat figure diorama in the Bavarian army museum in Ingolstadt. I left the motorway and searched around a little bit. What I found was a great description of this running battle from Zusmarshausen to Augsburg. A long way to walk (ok, I had my car with me) but a lot of signs where they described the different actions of this running battle.

The French and Swedes tried to cut of the Bavarians and Imperials, but the latter retreated to fast. In the end the Imperials took a position behind a stream near Augsburg and hold this line against the enemy. This was the last battle in the SYW on Bavarian soil. In the diorama at Ingolstadt they show this stand at the end of the battle.

Samstag, 19. März 2011

Honestly the right one reminded me of Quasimodo when I have seen the first try, but now Ingo corrected the head:-) this two will complete the range so far. Maybe later Black flags too?
I guess they could be used as Boxers too

Freitag, 11. März 2011

Between all my hobbyfriends I have the honour to call Thomas Mischak one of the longest I know in the hobby. Some years ago I had the chance to visit his "Bunker". A cellar from the old days in which he has put a Waterloodiorama with 14.000 figures on display. Thomas is working regulary on the quality of the diorama and is painting figures to a high standard, working on the landscape etc.. The diorama shows Erlon's attack, Huogomont, the usual squares and the Prussians on the French right flank.

I know that Waterloo is very popular for collectors and modellerers. Hopefully the importance of other Napoleonic battles in history will get the same chance to come on a plate as does Waterloo so often.
We did a first try with Aspern in 2009 and I promise you in 2012 there will be something from our group about 1812 too.

Ok, enough words, here are photos from this great diorama! I asked Thomas to send me some photos and here is what I got

Dienstag, 8. März 2011

After talking several hours with some specialists on the Roman army I decided to show the battle with a static line of Greek/Samnite infantry being attacked by the Romans. The Samnites in the gaps between the Phalanxes can't charge forward because they have to safe the flanks of the Phalanx. So it was the Romans turn to try to break the line (which actually happened in the battle). So the Greeks will be a strong line trying to advance, attacked by wave after wave of Romans. This would make it possible for the Romans to change the lines of Hastati and Prinzeps regulary.

So far for the theory, to show this on a plate is very difficult. We aggreed not to show the Punic war Manipel, but single centuries of Romans. BTW, I don't know any contemporary sources describing the Roman army 280 BC. So we don't know if this manipular organisation existed in these days.

See here a Roman century of Prinzeps, glued on our usual plates. I decided to show them 8 ranks deep and 10 wide for this battle. Enough to blog an advancing Phalanx of 16 men, and strong enough to break through the Samnites, Hypaspistes etc...

At the plate we will show the Romans of course in three lines, Hastati, Prinzeps, Triarier while we will use the Velites in the fight between the "tanks".
Here my idea of a Triarier formation (unfinished). Simply three ranks deep as we don't have enough figures. I hope we can expand this to a four-rank unit.

Here three centuries of Hastati which could blog two phalanxes which I glued on a single plate at the beginning of my idea. Maybe I have to remove them on smaller plates of single centuries later.

Comming to the enemies, the Samnites fought with their spear as a thrusting weapon. So we thought that they need something special. We want to show them in four ranks deep with a gap filled with javelineers and other light infantry, closed up by two ranks of heavy armed infantry to fight back an eventually break-through. We know from Alexander the great, that light troops were intermixed with the phalanxes.

Just for fun part of the phalanx. And as I still have to glue some lances on the HAT, just the beginning of the second

And the first try of a battleline to see how it works.

Here I have glued around 430 Romans and 330 Greeks on the plates. All in all we alreacy broke the 7000 figure mark in the meantime.

If still one wants to volunteer to join the project, I would be glad to receive a mail! The diorama will be on show for the first time on the DUZI in October this year.

Sonntag, 6. März 2011

After showing stuff from other people I want to return to my own projects. You know I am working on the Sikh-war and the French in Indochina beside a lot of other things. But the main project for this year is the battle of Asculum in which Pyrrhus won over the Romans. In this battle the Romans tried to use "tanks" against the elefants. Tank means in this case ox-drawn "armoured" wagons. I hope to have around 50-80 of this wagons on the diorama, fighting Pyrrhus's 19 Elefants.
Detlef from Petersfiguren made especially for the diorama this wagons here and told me yesterday on the phone that he wants to make some variants too. The wagons will be for sale in his shop later the year in case some of you are interested to get one.

Freitag, 4. März 2011

This morning Andy sent me a photo of the next five Egyptian infantrymen from the 1st Egyptian division which fought at Silistra and the Danube campaign of 1853/54. Great stuff and another addition to the Turkish army range. We will continue with Turkish cavalry I think.

Hank already ordered 400 of them, so hopefully I can show photos of a Turkish army at the Danube with a lot of irregulars and Egyptians too:-)))